The Internet - Future or End of the World?

[cryptan]

Heya, i was jus tinkin of how all this stuff about technology and the internet makin the world a better place to live in and then it seemed to me that most of the time, itz makin things worst.... and even if it does signal some good, wat percentage of the world has access to technology anyway? Probably less than 30%....

I think the internet is merely the latest incarnation of popular media, more enhanced than itz predecessor, but probabably gonna be outdone by something else....we had Radio, then TV, and now...the internet...

so wat does everyone else think? )

 

[yakko]

I don't think it signals the end of the world but if we try really hard maybe it can.

 

[BoberFett]

The internet is as important as the printing press in terms of changing the world. Many thought the printing press was the end of civilization, dear god how would they survive if peasents were able to get information without having to be told by a priest how to live. The internet is the same. There will be turmoil, but ultimately it will be benefit those that make use of it. And access to it will only increase.

 

[yllus]

<< all this stuff about technology and the internet makin the world a better place to live in and then it seemed to me that most of the time, itz makin things worst >>


Every popularized medium has followed the same inverted parabolic loop. First, it's proclaimed as the scholar's medium, where ideas and education can be enriched across a global audience. Then the marketers start to appear, having smelled money in appealing to this vast audience (low point). General uproar and editorials on how the medium has become tainted by commercialization. Lethargy in the fight to stave off commercial interests begins to set in and we return to a fair ratio of signal to noise. Look for it in the medium to come and try to look suprised when it happens. :|

But is technology and things like the Net really making things worse? That seems doubtful. It just depends on the point of view, which itself is generally dependant on the time period you examine it.



<< I think the internet is merely the latest incarnation of popular media, more enhanced than itz predecessor, but probabably gonna be outdone by something else....we had Radio, then TV, and now...the internet... >>


If you consider the idea that the Internet is the great equalizer in the respect that any Average Joe can become a writer/publisher/promotor all in one, you could call it revolutionary. I prefer to think of it as evolutionary:

Print: One-way medium.
TV: One-way live medium.
Internet: Two-way live medium.

Of course we all know that the &quot;everybody can be a star&quot; ideal doesn't really work. But the opportunity exists for those who would seize it.

 

[ToBeMe]

If I had to guess......end of world!

 

[Adam27]

tobeme lol good guess

 

[cryptan]

itz great that everyone is comin with their ideas...heh...

and Osully, i do agree with you that the internet is kinda evolutionary. I'm proposing that it isn't really a new kinda medium, but rather an enhancement of the all the previous ones, just like how the previous ones were enhancements of the ones before them...waddya tink?

 

[stomp]

The net was cool before the masses came on and then the money started rolling as a key figure...

I think I'll take it upon myself to make the next big thing so that at least it'll be cool until I die, at which point it can turn to shit for all I care

The net is the future in the same respects that television is for everyone now... but if history has taught us nothing else the net is another incremental move in the scheme of things... to the end found in asimov books where people are distant and only visit via holographic imaging.

 

[piku]

Maybe if you asked this 10 years ago when it was relevent I would give a damn.

 

[yllus]

<< I'm proposing that it isn't really a new kinda medium, but rather an enhancement of the all the previous ones, just like how the previous ones were enhancements of the ones before them >>


Sure. Maybe in the Internet, all the old mediums have converged. We can certainly recieve our &quot;print&quot;, audio and video online.


<< The net was cool before the masses came on and then the money started rolling as a key figure... >>


I hate to further the old boys club vs. relative newbies mentality, but damn if I don't think the same thing every once in a while. I started playing MUDs online around 1992/1993, and in those days if you were connected to the Net, it was an accomplishment in itself and you knew you were dealing with fellow members of the Illuminati. Now we have an influx of people who've clicked &quot;Connect to the Internet&quot; from their desktop to get online and have no idea of Netiquette or the old ways. I *hate* the mainstream!

On the bright side, there sure are a lot more chicks online now than then.